Nextivity, AFL Win SBC Awards
The Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) announced the winners and honorable mentions of its inaugural Safe Inside Annual Members Awards.
Categories included Safe Inside Product of the Year and Safe Inside Project of the Year. Submitted products and projects were required to specifically pertain to the in-building public-safety market and demonstrate an innovation that furthers the mission of improving in-building public safety.
SBC presented the Product of the Year award to Nextivity and the Project of the Year to AFL. Additionally, honorable mentions were awarded to Fiplex Communications and Commdex for Project of the Year, as well as to Westell Technologies for Product of the Year.
The Safe Inside Product of the Year award recognizes new products leading the way in innovation in the in-building public-safety communications market. The program serves to provide SBC’s audience with information about the top new products in their fields. CEL-FI by Nextivity’s product, QUATRA RED, provides consistent LMR and FirstNet coverage in challenging indoor environments while guaranteeing full compliance with the most current fire codes. The product offers real-time, end-to-end system monitoring and management through the CEL-FI WAVE PRO application and CEL-FI WAVE Portal.
“Public-safety communication is essential in life or death situations,” said Nextivity CEO Michiel Lotter. “Our industry-leading technology built into our line of ERCES products helps advance public-safety communications by solving the industry’s biggest challenges. It is a momentous occasion for our entire team for QUATRA RED to be recognized by the Safer Buildings Coalition, building ownership groups and public-safety officials as their Safe Inside Product of the Year. We look forward to continuing to innovate in the in-building public-safety communications market, and working alongside SBC to help the organization further its mission of making buildings safer inside.”
The Safe Inside Project of the Year award was created to recognize outstanding projects in the in-building public-safety communications market. The program spotlights projects for their impact, quality of workmanship, innovation and contribution to reducing noise and interference. AFL displayed this with the installation of a public-safety distributed antenna system (DAS) system at its Fifth and Broadway project, which provided an innovative solution for a large-scale public-safety need in Nashville, Tennessee.
The project was innovative in several different aspects. Due to the size and scope of the project, AFL was tasked with executing a solution that was deployable in phases, fiber based and did not create interference with the existing public-safety system. Throughout their project’s process, which spanned over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic, AFL displayed all the qualities indicative of this award.
“AFL is humbled to be selected for the Safe Inside Project of the Year,” said Michael Orendain, vice president of AFL’s optical telecom division. “The Fifth and Broadway project highlighted a large-scale ERRCS need where the proper design, implementation and testing was critical to the success of the project. To be selected by a panel of our peers for aligning and executing the mission of the Safer Buildings Coalition is an incredible honor. The work that SBC and its members are doing is truly changing the industry and most importantly saving first responder lives. We are proud to be a part of the Safer Buildings Coalition and its member community.”
The judging panel consisted of five individual SBC member jurors. Other finalists for the two awards included Advanced RF Technologies (ADRF), Diversified Wire and Cable, ECSite, Marconi Technologies, MPBX Wireless Design, PCTEL, Pulse Signal Solutions, Safe-Com Wireless, and Windy City Wire.
“I would like to thank all the members who submitted for product and project of the year, along with the distinguished panel for not only their time but careful thought and expertise in selection of our victors,” said Brian Hanson, chairman of the SBC member jury. “It was truly humbling to see all the continuous support given to the public-safety community by SBC and the members who drive the mission forward. Congratulations to all the finalists; know you are revered by your colleagues and community at large.”
A version of this article was originally published by Mission Critical Communications.
